Evolutionary Biology and Political Theory

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 195-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger D. Masters
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Observational Research ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

The traditional emphasis on human nature as the foundation of politics needs to be reexamined from the perspective of contemporary biology. Because biological processes operate independently on the individual, the social group, and the species, an evolutionary approach to both observational research and cost-benefit analysis does not entail reductionism. Selfishness and altruism, participation in social groups, languages and cultures, and the rise and fall of centralized states can all be illuminated by empirical evidence and theories in the life sciences. For political philosophy, a new “naturalism” points to a return to the Aristotelian view that values or standards of judgment have rationally intelligible foundations, thereby challenging the relativist or nihilistic orientation that has characterized most contemporary thought.

scholarly journals International Technical Standards: An Overview

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Hebner
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid System ◽  
Economic Benefit ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Technical Standards ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Cost

The growing globalization of industry is stimulating a growing emphasis on international standards. Standards are important because they provide significant economic benefit. They are also costly and much of the benefit is broad-based, i.e. it does not accrue preferentially to those who incur the cost. Finally, there is a highly disaggregated international standards system and at least two very different basic philosophies as to how standard systems should operate. The effect of the individual cost-benefit analysis by organizations may produce a hybrid system that produces both global standards in which each country participates in the development as well as less costly technical and consortium standards.

The Heroin Problem: Policy Alternatives in Dealing with Heroin Use

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Marks
Keyword(s):  
Methadone Maintenance ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Therapeutic Communities ◽  
Heroin Use ◽  
Policy Alternatives ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Heroin Maintenance

The paper examines the social and private aspects of heroin use in the U.S. today and attempts to estimate the associated costs, both society's and the individual user's. Possible goals of any government policy are discussed. Twelve possible policy alternatives are examined, eight dealing with the demand for heroin, and four dealing with its supply. These alternatives are compared using a rough cost-benefit analysis in terms of costs and benefits to society at large. A more detailed comparison is made of therapeutic communities, methadone maintenance, and the British experience of prescription heroin maintenance as alternatives. The conclusion is reached that to minimize social cost while containing the spread of heroin usage a scheme of prescription heroin should be implemented; but if the spread of usage is seen as benign, the best policy is to sell the drug freely to any adult as alcohol is today.

The social valuation of income: a survey approach

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 808-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
David John Evans ◽  
Erhun Kula ◽  
Yoko Nagase
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Statistical Testing ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Valuation ◽  
Survey Approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate survey-based values of the elasticity of marginal social valuation of income, an important welfare parameter in cost-benefit analysis. Design/methodology/approach – A model relating equity welfare weights to income is developed, and iso-elasticity of marginal valuation of income is tested using survey data obtained from a sample of Turkish politicians who are instrumental in policy making. Findings – Based on the survey feedback, formal statistical testing indicates that Turkish politicians, regardless of party allegiance, reveal preferences consistent with an iso-elastic marginal social valuation of income. The estimated value of the elasticity measure is close to unity for each of the political parties. Originality/value – The originality of the paper is in terms of the survey method used to obtain from Turkish politicians estimates of the marginal social valuation of income. This welfare parameter is needed in the calculation of both social discount rates and welfare weights. The paper will be of interest to academics in the field of welfare economics as well as to practitioners involved in the appraisal of social projects and policies.

Presurgical Routine Screening

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 780-780
Author(s):  
ALAN COHEN ◽  
CAROL BURK
Keyword(s):  
Additional Data ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Routine Screening ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Coagulation Disorders ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Appropriate Use ◽  
Laboratory Screening ◽  
The Individual

In Reply.— Doctors Lackmann and Töllner provide additional data supporting our finding that the discovery of clinically important coagulation disorders during routine preoperative laboratory screening is infrequent. However, these investigators are troubled, as are we, by the problem of determining the appropriate use of screening tests when the disorder is rare and the tests are imperfect, but the consequence of failing to recognize the disorder may be grave. Even the most elaborate cost-benefit analysis may be of little comfort in approaching the individual patient and concerned parents.

Inclusion of Social Subsystem Issues in IT Investment Decisions

2011 ◽  
pp. 164-183
Author(s):  
Sherry D. Ryan ◽  
Michael S. Gates
Keyword(s):  
Survey Data ◽  
Decision Process ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Decision Criteria ◽  
The Social

Researchers have attempted to augment the traditional cost/benefit analysis model used in the IT decision process. However, frequently social subsystem issues are inadequately considered. Survey data, collected from a U.S. sample of 200 executives, provides an empirical assessment of how these issues compare with other IT decision criteria given differing decision types. The social subsystem issues considered most important by decision makers are also identified and the manner by which they consider these issues is investigated.

The Concept of Cost in the Economic Evaluation of Health Care: A Theoretical Inquiry

1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 675-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magnus Johannesson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Economic Evaluation ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Treatment Program ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Economic Evaluations ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Full Economic Evaluation ◽  
The Individual

AbstractThe costs included in economic evaluations of health care vary from study to study. Based on the theory of cost-benefit analysis, the costs that should be included in an economic evaluation are those not already included in the measurement of willingness to pay (net willingness to pay above any treatment costs paid by the individual) in a cost-benefit analysis or in the easurement of effectiveness in a cost-effectiveness analysis. These costs can be defined as the onsumption externality of the treatment (the change in production minus consumption for those included in the treatment program). For a full economic evaluation, the consequences for those included in the treatment program and a caring externality (altruism) should also be added.

Environmental costs and their impact on the net present value of a hydro-electric project in Kerala, India

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Santhakumar ◽  
Achin Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
Net Present Value ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Net Benefit ◽  
Pulp Industry ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Cost

This paper presents the operational procedures involved in incorporating the environmental costs in the cost–benefit analysis of a hydro-electric project. The proposed project, if implemented, would result in the loss of 2,800 hectares of tropical forests and dislocation of two settlements of about 200 families who are currently dependent on the forests for their livelihood. The forests are mainly used for extracting reed – a material used both by traditional artisans and the paper-pulp industry. The potential environmental costs and benefits of the project are identified and approximate estimates of some of these costs are made for items such as carbon sequestration, bio-diversity, and so on, based on similar estimates made elsewhere. These estimated environmental costs are incorporated into the analysis, and the hypothetical estimate of the non-use value, which would make the project's net benefit zero, is estimated under different discount rates. The analysis brings into sharp focus some crucial factors that have a direct bearing on the social trade-off involved in the project choice.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Social Welfare Functions

2019 ◽  
pp. 397-422
Author(s):  
Matthew D. Adler
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Social Welfare Function ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Important Policy ◽  
The Social

This chapter describes and compares the two most important policy-analysis methodologies in economics: cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and the social-welfare-function (SWF) framework. Both approaches are consequentialist and welfarist; both are typically combined with a preference-based view of well-being. Despite these similarities, the two methodologies differ in significant ways. CBA translates well-being impacts into monetary equivalents, and ranks outcomes according to the sum total of monetary equivalents. By contrast, the SWF framework relies upon an interpersonally comparable measure of well-being. Each possible outcome is mapped onto a list (vector) of these well-being numbers, one for each person in the population; the ranking of outcomes, then, is driven by some rule (the SWF) for ranking these well-being vectors. The utilitarian SWF and the prioritarian family of SWFs (each corresponding to well-developed positions in moral philosophy) are especially plausible. The case for using CBA rather than one of these SWFs is weak—or so the chapter argues.

Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States

2013 ◽  
pp. 107-128
Author(s):  
Douglas M. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Impacts ◽  
Casino Gambling ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic And Social Impacts ◽  
Social Costs Of Gambling

This chapter provides an overview of empirical research on the economic and social impacts of gambling. Issues examined include the effects of casino gambling on economic growth; the relationships among gambling industries and the implications of these relationships on net government tax revenue; the social costs of gambling; casinos and crime; casinos and political corruption; and problems with cost-benefit analysis applied to gambling.

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